[Top 5] MTG Arena Best Angel Decks

Updated:

18 Sep 2023

These divine decks are the answer to your prayers.

Angels have always found a place in powerful MTG decks since the very beginning. They fit into aggressive decks as large top-end threats while control strategies use them as a finisher. Here are five MTG Arena decks that harness the strength of these heavenly beings.

5. Mono-White Angels (Historic)

Don’t summon Lyra if you’re not a morning person.

Mono-White Angels is a tribal deck using all the best angels Historic format's card pool has to offer. You have a life gain theme that gives you extra life whenever an angel enters the battlefield. This enables your utility creatures to use their ability to create even more angels to overwhelm your opponent.

What's good about this deck:

You have a great matchup against other aggressive decks. Life gain makes it hard for them to race and ground-based creatures can't block your Angels.
Containment Priest stops many popular strategies in Historic like Goblins. Linvala also disables decks with many creatures that use activated abilities like Elves.
Angels in a tribal deck is a fresh and unique theme. There's already been a lot of competitive tribal decks in Magic's history but Angels didn't have the tools to compete until now.

How to play this deck effectively:

Your best hand consists of life gain enablers like Soul Warden or Bishop of Wings and angels to cast as you go up the mana curve.
Play your Soul Wardens early to maximize your life gain. Take note that they also trigger from your opponent's creatures.
When you have Angel of Vitality or Speaker of the Heavens, focus on enabling their abilities by getting your life total to 25 and 27 respectively.
Don't trade off Containment Priest or Linvala if their abilities are relevant against your opponent's deck.
Cast Lyra Dawnbringer pre-combat to boost the power of your other angels and give them Lifelink.

Cards:

Deck

4 Soul Warden

4 Speaker of the Heavens

4 Bishop of Wings

4 Containment Priest

4 Angel of Vitality

4 Resplendent Angel

2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence

2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty

2 Lyra Dawnbringer

1 Baneslayer Angel

4 Scroll of Avacyn

4 Radiant Fountain

3 Castle Ardenvale

18 Plains

4. Sephara Fliers

Sephara’s got your fliers covered from all angles.

Sephara Fliers is a blue-white deck playing the most efficient flying creatures available. You have several ways of buffing your creatures and drawing extra cards to keep up the pressure. Sephara, Sky's Blade is a big threat that also plays a vital role in protecting your board from mass removal.

What's good about this deck:

There are only a few decks in the current metagame that can block flying creatures. This means your opponent will likely not be able to defend against your attacks at all.
Rally of Wings can power up all your creatures out of nowhere. You can use it to ambush aggressive decks that are racing or end the game with one massive attack.
The deck has zero Mythics and only 12 rares so it’s very cheap to make. Except for Sephara, you can also replace the other rares with budget alternatives.

How to play this deck effectively:

Your best hand consists of cheap creatures and Staggering Insight with payoff cards like Skycat Sovereign or Sephara.
Playing several creatures during the first few turns is essential, so mulligan away hands that don’t have any early game creatures.
Play Staggering Insight on one of your fliers early. The cards and life you get from it will snowball into a huge advantage later.
It’s worth taking a turn off attacking to cast Sephara, Sky’s Blade using its alternate cost. This protects your small fliers from removal, and decks like Mono-Red Aggro or Winota don’t have a way to deal with it.
Save Rally of Wings for a lethal attack unless you’re predicting that your opponent will play mass removal on their next turn.

Cards:

Deck

4 Faerie Miscreant

4 Spectral Sailor

4 Healer's Hawk

4 Loyal Pegasus

2 Faerie Guidemother

4 Skycat Sovereign

4 Empyrean Eagle

4 Sephara, Sky's Blade

4 Staggering Insight

2 Conclave Tribunal

4 Rally of Wings

4 Hallowed Fountain

8 Island

8 Plains

3. Baneslayer Control

She slays demons, dragons, or anything below five toughness for that matter.

Baneslayer Control wins by answering all your opponent's threats until they run out of resources. Your cards consist of various types of card draw, removal, and counters for any situation. Baneslayer Angel keeps you alive against aggro decks and wins the game soon after.

What's good about this deck:

Popular decks like Mono-Red Aggro or Mardu Winota straight-up lose against a Turn 5 Baneslayer because they have zero answers to it.
You have no problem taking on aggressive decks. Mass removal and life gain help you survive into the late game where they will soon run out of resources.
Fae of Wishes lets you access a sideboard filled with powerful narrow answers that you otherwise wouldn’t have in Best-of-One.

How to play this deck effectively:

Your best hand consists of cheap interaction spells, countermagic, and several lands. Mulligan away hands that are too top-heavy and contain few or no early game spells.
When an opponent attacks, wait until the end of turn before destroying it with Swift Response. This way, you can counter whatever your opponent casts on his second main phase if it's a bigger threat.
Don’t hesitate to cast your late-game cards like Fae of Wishes or Gadwick, the Wizened early against aggressive decks. You should focus on surviving into the late game rather than maximizing value.
Don't forget to activate Teferi, Master of Time on your opponent's turn. Wait until your opponent’s end of turn, so you can choose to phase out a threat if necessary.
The sideboard provided is set up to handle a wide variety of decks. Make sure to change it based on the decks you're having trouble with.

Cards:

Deck

2 Fae of Wishes

3 Brazen Borrower

2 Gadwick, the Wizened

3 Baneslayer Angel

1 Teferi, Master of Time

4 Omen of the Sea

3 The Birth of Meletis

3 Elspeth Conquers Death

4 Shatter the Sky

4 Swift Response

1 Dovin's Veto

4 Absorb

4 Raugrin Triome

4 Temple of Enlightenment

4 Hallowed Fountain

3 Castle Ardenvale

2 Castle Vantress

5 Island

4 Plains

Sideboard

1 Light of Hope

1 Grafdigger's Cage

1 Devout Decree

1 Aether Gust

1 Disdainful Stroke

1 Dovin's Veto

1 Sorcerous Spyglass

1 Time Wipe

1 Planar Cleansing

1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

1 Heliod's Intervention

1 Finale of Revelation

1 Mass Manipulation

1 Field of Ruin

1 Radiant Fountain

2. Boros Aggro

Aurelia strikes a pose before laying down the law.

Boros Aggro attacks with small, aggressive creatures that have the potential to grow during each combat. You have creatures that are difficult to kill and equipment that lets you hit even harder. Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice can power up your smaller creatures or hit for big damage by herself.

What's good about this deck:

Unlike other aggro decks, your creatures are not outclassed even during later turns. The Mentor mechanic lets your attackers grow as the game goes on.
Selfless Savior forces your opponent to make difficult choices when blocking or casting removal. The threat of Embercleave equipping your best creature out of nowhere further complicates this.
You can finish most games in only a few turns. It’s a great choice if you want a quick way to finish daily quests or progress up the ranking ladder.

How to play this deck effectively:

Your best hand consists of creatures you can cast each turn going up the mana curve plus an Embercleave.
Mulligan away hands that don’t have early game creatures. This deck works best when you have the initiative, and it also doesn’t play defense very well.
Only use Selfless Savior to protect your more valuable creatures like Legion Warboss and Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice.
If you have Seasoned Hallowblade, keep some lands in your hand to discard for its ability. You only need four mana to cast all your spells.
When you attack with several creatures with Mentor, make sure to stack the triggers right. Order it so that the biggest creature mentors the second biggest, which in turn mentors the third, and so on.

Cards:

Deck

4 Gingerbrute

4 Selfless Savior

4 Alpine Houndmaster

2 Alpine Watchdog

2 Igneous Cur

4 Seasoned Hallowblade

4 Bonecrusher Giant

3 Legion Warboss

3 Tajic, Legion's Edge

2 Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice

4 Embercleave

4 Sacred Foundry

4 Temple of Triumph

8 Mountain

8 Plains

1. Feather Aggro

For someone named Feather, this angel hits like a truck.

Feather Aggro attacks with a single creature and uses cheap spells to boost its power and protect it. This deck's creatures each have ways to generate value or card selection so you don't run out of gas. Feather, the Redeemed returns the spells you used back to your hand, so you can keep using them on your creatures.

What's good about this deck:

It has a powerful linear strategy that will beat decks that don't have many ways to kill creatures.
Teferi, Time Raveler was recently banned in Standard, so you no longer need to worry about a single popular card that can ruin your entire strategy.
Starting with fewer cards due to mulligans doesn't hurt as much compared to other decks. You can win as long as you have the correct lands, a threat, and a protection spell.

How to play this deck effectively:

Your best hand consists of Arcanist/Legionnaire, Feather, and a mix of pump and protection spells.
Mulligan away hands that don't have at least one creature. You need an early target for your spells to build momentum.
Play Hushbringer early against popular decks it can disable like Temur Elementals or Winota.
Always keep mana open to make your opponent hesitate using their removal spell. Bluffing works well in this deck because they can't afford to misplay their removal and end up making your creature stronger.
When targeting Feather, you can use its ability to override the exile effect of other cards. This means that when you use Arcanist or Chandra's ability to cast a spell from your graveyard, those cards will go back to your hand instead.

Cards:

Deck

4 Dreadhorde Arcanist

4 Hushbringer

4 Tenth District Legionnaire

4 Feather, the Redeemed

2 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame

4 Defiant Strike

4 Fight as One

4 Gods Willing

4 Light of Hope

2 Go for Blood

2 Justice Strike

4 Sacred Foundry

4 Temple of Triumph

9 Plains

5 Mountain

Angels are a beloved creature type, so you can expect to see more of them as newer sets come out. Legendary angels often strike a great balance between casual and competitive appeal. Try them out as commanders in Brawl for a different experience.

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